


limited threshold

by cyclothimic



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bisexual Lena Luthor, Canon Compliant, F/F, Friendship, Humor, Lena Luthor Finds Out Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Love Confessions, Missing Scene, Protective Kara Danvers, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 11:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18620104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyclothimic/pseuds/cyclothimic
Summary: "Don't go opening doors for strangers everywhere you go.""Don't worry. I only open doors for people I care about."-or five times Supergirl opens the door for Lena, and one time Lena opens the door herself.





	limited threshold

**Author's Note:**

> y'all remember that scene in last episode when kara didn't even hesitate to open the door for lena at the prison? yeah, those few seconds got me to write a whole ass fic about it. this is just my take of how lena finds out kara's supergirl :-)
> 
> and let me warn you - it's so bad. it's not good. i hate myself for this.
> 
> now, read, ponder, and...try to enjoy.

_Whenever my heart hears a knocking,_

_It opens its doors._

_-Maram al-Massri, A Red Cherry on a White-tiled Floor_

* * *

(1)

Had Lena Luthor been more apt at socializing and making friends – not that she had to be a social butterfly, per se, but socialized enough to have a circle – she would have been out there and not in here. She'd be able to see the neon lights from the billboards from down there instead of up here. She'd be able to look closely at the people walking on the sidewalks, taking in their features and guessing their personal lives at a glimpse. She'd be gushing at the puppies at a pet store.

Hanging out at a bar between 45th and Acorn Street. Or huddle around a round table at a café by 21st and opposite a drab drugstore. Or even just at the penthouse she never got around to purchasing when she had moved here three weeks ago.

The point was she wouldn't be alone, had she had a better social life. All those scenarios – the bar, the café, her goddamn penthouse – would be filled with chatter and jabs and banters and laughter and shared alcoholic beverages. The point was she wouldn't be reviled or judged for even sipping on a cup of coffee – the entire world wouldn't be watching her every move, waiting with lolling tongues for her to slip up. The point was she wasn't branded the sole surviving Luthor member who still hadn't…descended, she supposed.

Lena rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her left hand while the other held the Mont Blanc pen that Lionel had given her for her 17th birthday. That would be the last piece of paper she had to sign. Well, the last for the night anyway. She wouldn't be hard pressed to expect another pile waiting for her at the end of tomorrow.

She dropped the pen and lowered her arms, wincing and gasping a little at the sudden jarring ache that tore through her shoulder and extended down to her forearm. Right. It had only been eight hours since she had to shoot Corben in the back and save an FBI agent's life.

It wasn't that she didn't know how to shoot a gun. She knew exactly how to handle a gun, no matter the size. Lex had made sure of that by introducing her to a pistol when she was seventeen and forcing her to shoot at strawmen in the courtyard until she figured out how to handle her aim. It was just that she hadn't held a gun since her brother had basically kidnapped her and forced her to witness the Red Sun disaster, and she had, frankly, forgotten about recoil in all the chaos that had occurred earlier.

She was just absentmindedly rubbing on the joints that connected her shoulder and her arm when a knock sounded on the glass door that led to her balcony. In all the exhaustion, the action, the endless amount of work, Lena wasn't ashamed to admit that she wasn't alert enough to even notice a presence on her balcony, so she, naturally, jumped at the sound and spun around in her chair to look at the door in alert.

"Supergirl."

The superheroine in question offered a meek smile from the other side of the glass, adding on a twiddle of her fingers in the air. Lena probably shouldn't find that adorable; she blamed it on the utter mushiness that had decided to take over her brain as soon as she dropped the pen.

"You can come in."

A thankful and probably excited – Lena couldn't be sure – smile, a wide step to the left, and the door was open to allow the entrance of National City's sweetheart. Even on the brink of falling asleep right where she was, Lena didn't miss the fact that Supergirl was here, in her office, at – Lena glanced at the digital clock displayed on her computer – 11:34p.m. on a Wednesday night, very much unarmed, incredibly put together.

"Forgive me for not standing up like a proper lady, but I don't think I can bring the energy to even try right now," Lena remarked, squinting at Supergirl, who seemed uncertain as she stood in Lena Luthor's turf. "What are you doing here?"

And then something dawned on the blonde, like she just remembered something, and the woman lifted one finger in the air with a chastising expression on her face. "Miss Luthor, it's almost midnight," she commented.

Tilting her head, Lena tried not to be offended at being looked at like that by a person she barely knew, especially someone of a species responsible for putting her brother in prison – not that Lena condone Lex's actions, but he was that boy who taught her how to play chess and brought her out on midnight ice-cream runs.

At Lena's silence, Supergirl ploughed on, "It's almost midnight, and not eight hours ago, you were  _literally_ attacked and almost blown up into pieces."

"I'd really like it if you'd just get to your point."

"Go home."

"Excuse me?"

"Go home. Take some painkillers. Get some sleep. Your work will still be here in the morning."

Lena wanted to be affronted. Wanted to be offended. Wanted to tell Supergirl off for even thinking that she had the right to barge in here and tell her what to do. But most importantly, she wanted to go back to that very fluffy bed and just collapse right on top of it, painkillers regardless. Maybe she would even forgo removing her makeup.

She could argue with the superheroine for another day. After all, National City was Supergirl's turf, just like Metropolis was Superman's and Gotham City was Bruce Wayne's – yes, she knew all about Bruce Wayne nighttime activities. Supergirl would be a constant presence for the foreseeable future, especially for Lena, given her identity.

"I could – I could fly you home, if you'd like," Kara stuttered, her previous starkness gone and the uncertainty was back.

"No, it's okay," Lena said, managing to stand up and wishing that she had Supergirl's levitation abilities, just so she could float herself downstairs to where Derek was waiting with the car. She pulled her coat on and got her briefcase. "Perhaps you should take your own advice, Supergirl. You had an eventful day as well."

"Comes with the job," the superheroine easily replied and matched her strides with Lena as they headed for the door.

Before Lena could reach out, Supergirl surprised her again by extending her arm and pulling the door open for her. Her brows raised a little at the gesture, but kept her mouth shut. Instead, she just shot the blonde a thankful smile and stepped past the threshold.

"Lock the door on your way out, would you?" she requested, standing on the other side while Supergirl remained in her office.

Supergirl nodded and cheekily offered a salute. Unbeknownst to herself, an exhausted smile stretched over Lena's face as the door swung shut behind her.

* * *

(2)

"Miss Luthor."

Lena stopped in her tracks, squinting from behind her giant sunglasses at the floating figure that had called her name. She blinked a few times and looked around her to find that pedestrians were starting to jump and squeal and gape and take photos for that five minutes of fame. Lena could already imagine the captions.

' _Are Luthors getting arrested in broad daylight now?'_

She would take off her sunglasses, but the sun was too bright and it was still morning and Lena had no interest in looking anyone in the eye before twelve noon. Then again, Supergirl probably didn't need her to take off her sunglasses to look her in the eye – Lena recalled reading something about X-Ray vision in Lex's notes when she had to take over the company and browse through every single scribble he had made during his tenure.

She turned around fully and waited for the blonde to lower herself, landing gently a few yards away from the CEO. Once Supergirl was in hearing distance and they could talk to each other without risking being overheard, Lena crossed her arms, trying very hard to not look at the 'S' symbol proudly displayed on the superheroine's chest.

 _El-Mayarah_ , her brother's notes had stated. Though what it meant, Lena had no clue. Must have been a family symbol, something to be proud of, something Kryptonian, something  _extinct_  – distinct enough for two of Earth's mightiest heroes to wear it on their chests. Important enough for them to be naturally branded as the good guys; so good that her brother had grown so taut with jealousy that he almost committed genocide.

"Good morning, Supergirl," Lena greeted, unable to fully shake off the lessons of propriety that Lillian Luthor had taught her while rapping on her knuckles with a wooden ruler.

With a strained smile, Supergirl nodded in acknowledgement. "Heading to work?"

"Airport, actually. Conference in Italy." She did not know why she just told Supergirl that. "I got my driver to wait around the corner. I wanted to walk a bit, stretch my legs." Or those.

Honestly, Supergirl had been getting her to say things that Lena Luthor would never have said to anyone else before. Such as " _A Luthor and a Super working together"_ or turning against her mother to render an isotope inert or telling Kara Danvers that Supergirl's biceps were very distracting under that skintight suit – but Supergirl didn't need to know that last part.

"Let me walk you to your car," Supergirl offered.

Okay, yes, Supergirl was very pretty. Lena sometimes couldn't help finding similarities in Kara and Supergirl's eyes, especially when the morning sun was so high above them and beating down on National City with the kind of gentleness that Nevada never allowed.

So blue. So wide. So sincere. It was no wonder that they both could so easily get people to trust them and rely on them so entirely. Their blue eyes were absolute killers. The only difference was that Kara was a little fidgety and timid, while Supergirl was confidence abundant, strong, relentless,  _heroic._

Not that Kara wasn't a hero. Lena had read enough of Kara's articles to know that heroism came in different forms. Supergirl just did it more outwardly, more obviously, and more unabashedly.

The point was: yes, Supergirl was very attractive, but Lena had been burned one too many times by a pretty face to even allow herself the courtesy of being so weak again – one Veronica Sinclair was enough, thank you very much.

So, instead of whimsically agreeing to Supergirl's offer, Lena shifted her weight to another heel with no effort and raised an eyebrow, quietly prompting the blonde to explain herself.

"Someone was following you. I saw him carrying a knife. From the coffee shop."

The CEO wanted to be surprised. It would probably be a more normal reaction to gasp and cry in terror. To even just show a smidgeon of emotion at the news. She did none of those things.

Casting a casual look over Supergirl's shoulder, she easily spotted the culprit in question, hidden in an oversized leather jacket with an outdated fedora on top of his hat, very badly faking his reading of a random advertisement posted at a bus stop.

"He looks like he just came out of a bad 80s movie," she casually remarked, returning her gaze to the blonde in front of her.

They had gathered quite the audience around them already, and she was certain that this kind of crowd would have already thwarted his plan. But the fact he still lingered there was worrisome.

Supergirl's eyes widened at Lena's words, uncertain as to how she ought to respond to this kind of reaction to a potential death threat in broad daylight in the middle of National City's busiest streets. And then, mere seconds later, the uncertainty transformed into something resembling pity, which  _certainly_ wasn't something Lena did, and she found it distasteful.

So she just starkly nodded and turned around to start heading her original direction. Supergirl quietly followed. Given that they were both used to the attention, they very skillfully ignored the phones whipped out, the murmurs rising, and the increasing number of gaping looks surrounding them as they marched down the sidewalk.

Yes, take a picture. It wasn't often that one could see  _a Luthor and a Super_ just walking down the street together.

Once they had reached the limousine – thankfully, Derek didn't react much but a pair of raised eyebrows when he saw them turn around the corner – the blonde bypassed both her and her driver and opened the car door for Lena, smiling sheepishly and gesticulating towards the innards of the limousine.

"I'll get rid of that guy in a second."

Lena hummed. "I imagine you wouldn't be able to get rid of all my potential street attackers, Supergirl. My back is basically a big red bullseye."

Supergirl's expression darkened significantly at that – and Lena couldn't quite be sure if it was because what she had said was true or because she had said it without much flair. Maybe both. For a moment, the CEO indulged herself in that rare sense of flattery and let herself accept that it was both.

"Have a safe flight, Miss Luthor."

Nodding, Lena climbed into the backseat, but not before replying, "You too, Supergirl. However many you will have in my absence."

Italy was beautiful. Historic. Lena appreciated the slight break she got from home base. The people she had the conference with were all respectful individuals, men or women, and they seemed to not give a hoot that she was not only in her mid-twenties but also a woman. They just wanted to reach an agreement with her, and that was all she wanted.

Plus, it didn't hurt that she got to meet her casual Italian friend, Gustus, and got to let loose for a few nights with him in her hotel bed. She had desperately needed a good lay after having landed in National City and was faced with the enormity of her responsibility, and Gustus had always been a great provider.

Still, when she had returned from Italy, she didn't forget to bring home some cheeses she had purchased at her favorite hole-in-the-wall vendor and place some plastic-wrapped ones on her office balcony. The next morning, they were gone, and in place was a note that contained a rather rudimentary drawing of  _El-Mayarah_ and a smiley face.

Lena kept the note in her drawer.

* * *

(3)

This time, she didn't see it coming.

Derek had just driven her to the building and she had gotten out, eyes still stuck on her phone as she typed out one last email to a supplier from down under. When she wanted to reach out for the door handle, someone beat her to the chase and had pushed the glass door open for her.

Lena looked up when her hand touched nothing but air, email half typed out.

And there she was again – National City's sweetheart standing on the threshold, completely unaware of the security guard gaping at her presence from where he was posted in the lobby. Lena couldn't help but smile at the superheroine, who was beaming back at her with that million-dollar smile of hers.

"This seems like a habit of yours," Lena pointed out and gestured at the open door.

"Just happened to pass by."

Lena raised her brows. "Joining Kara for game night?"

Supergirl's smile dimmed a little, but still remained on her face. "No, I still have patrol to do. You be careful though. I heard Kara can be very competitive at Pictionary."

"Trust me, I'm aware." One did not just forget the one time Kara Danvers lost her temper because James couldn't figure out the ladder she had drawn on the board. "Don't go opening doors for strangers everywhere you go."

Supergirl hummed. "Don't worry. I only open doors for people I care about."

Before Lena could even properly close her mouth and respond with words, the blonde had long floated up, up, and away.

* * *

(4)

The last time Lena had felt so conflicted with her feelings was when her mother called her and told her so proudly about her brother's achievements in making genocide all the more real. Listening to Lillian Luthor's voice basically  _drenched_ in pride and delight was an experience in and of itself, so much so that it took Lena five minutes after hanging up to truly grasp the gravity of her mother's announcement.

Since then, Lena had learned to compose herself and look at everything from a distance. It was only from that distance could she place herself out of the equation and locate the problems so that she could find the solutions. Only from a distance could she avoid emotional attachment – something that had almost landed her in jail because she actually  _considered_ lying in the deposition.

Of course, she hadn't always succeeded. She ingratiated herself so deeply in her friendship with Kara that she didn't think she'd be able to truly move on when Kara inevitably see that she was worth much more than Lena. She devoted herself to this city so much that, despite the vigor behind the hate that was constantly directed to her, she continued to save the people time and time again, fully aware that no one would be grateful – no one but a certain journalist and a certain Kryptonian.

She found herself  _believing_ in Supergirl, and now it was being flung back in her face very rudely.

As Supergirl's doubtful presence lingered behind her, Lena was once again reminded of why she should have kept herself at a distance. At least Alex had the decency to shoot her an apologetic look; Winn was actively absent; but Supergirl – well, Supergirl didn't even try to hide her suspicion when they gathered in the conference room.

At one point, Lena knew that no matter what she said or did, it wouldn't be resolved. This friendship was done for, demolish, gone for good. Apparently, her  _benign_ possession of Kryptonite was enough to sink a partnership – the proverbial iceberg, so to speak.

Lena gave up on trying to defend herself and just stood up. She told them, in as many words, to just bring a warrant or at least try to be less black-ops the next time they wanted to bring her in. Otherwise, they could meet her lawyers. She and Supergirl locked eyes for a moment, and she pretended that she didn't see the hurt in Supergirl's eyes.

Fuck her. She didn't get to be hurt. Not when it was Sam's life on the line. Not when her best friend was literally having a personality crisis and Lena happened to be the  _only one_ who could even do anything about it.

Supergirl would never trump Sam.

She went to open the door, but Supergirl beat her to it and pulled the thing open, looking sheepish and vehemently staring down at her red boots. Behind them, Alex and Director J'onzz were watching them, wary and afraid of what might come next.

Lena waited until Supergirl looked up at her again before saying, "Don't pretend that I'm one of the people you care about anymore, Supergirl. It's unbecoming."

She probably shouldn't feel the jolt of delight when Supergirl visibly flinched at the door. But she did. And Lena walked away, pulling out her phone to call Derek. She could think about the fragmentation of whatever it was between her and Supergirl after she saved Sam.

* * *

(5)

"Still haven't lost the habit, I see."

Yes, Lena was well aware that there were more important matters at hand, such as her brother being  _very_ absent from the cell he was supposed to be in. Like the not-Supergirl basically terrorizing the White House and making actual Supergirl public enemy number one. Like her lingering worries about the side-effects of the Harun-El on James now that Supergirl had told her about what she saw Lex doing on the CatCo rooftop.

But she couldn't help herself. They just walked through a hallway full of prisoners with no kind words for the superheroine. And yet, Supergirl  _opened_ the door for her anyway, despite everything that had transpired between them.

 _I only open doors for people I care about_.

After the door had closed behind them, Supergirl's shoulders loosened significantly and that frown on her forehead had practically disappeared. She managed to smile after looking at the door, laughed even.

It was at this moment that Lena realized how much the past few weeks had affected the woman, probably months, even. And she felt bad, truly, because no matter how deep the rift between them and how much she hated everything that Supergirl had said to her during the whole Kryptonite debacle, she  _knew_ that Supergirl meant well.

She probably meant the best out of all the residents in National City, Lena Luthor included. And she didn't deserve the treatment that was the after effect of Ben Lockwood's misguided attempts to bring freedom to the people.

Supergirl's grin softened into a gentle smile when she turned to Lena. For a short span of time, they simultaneously allowed themselves this little reprieve to themselves, ignoring the additional cells spanning the wall and the empty one sitting at the end of the very short hallway. Ten minutes – they could take ten minutes to pretend that they were back to where they had been before Supergirl had barged into her lab last year.

"For the people I care about, yes," Supergirl reminded her, cocking her brows in playful challenge.

Lena tilted her head, having no barriers against the warmth that flooded her head to toe. "Oh yeah?"

The blonde nodded with an affirming hum. And then she lowered the hands that were perched against her hips, lacing her fingers at the front as the smile slowly disappeared into a guilty grown. Lena's smile followed, replaced by confusion.

"That day, when you agreed to everything being 'bygones'," Supergirl mentioned and swallowed audibly. "Did you mean it?"

Lena blinked at the unexpected question, all of a sudden feeling a sense of uncertainty that she hated thoroughly. She didn't like being uncertain. Her whole life had been an array of uncertainties and whenever she got a chance to wrap her fingers around something and attain control, she'd jump at the chance.

Her trip to Cell Block D was supposed to be controlled. They had everything planned. Threaten the warden. Gain access. Look through everything. Catalogue all the clues that Lex had deliberately left behind because he was a smug son of a bitch. Go back and analyze said clues.

She didn't take into account Supergirl's intention to apply cement to their repaired relationship. Hence, she didn't plan for this. She could not control this.

"I can't…forgive you entirely," Lena admitted; figured the best way to make sure this second chance stayed steady was to be truthful. "But yes, they are bygones."

Supergirl went against her expectations and looked even more in trouble at that. And Lena didn't know what else she could say, so she stayed quiet and waited. What else could the superheroine want? The Supergirl Lena knew wasn't a greedy person – then again, after everything, Lena probably didn't really know the blonde at all.

"When we get back, can we talk? I have – I appreciate you giving me a second chance." Supergirl bit her lip and considered Lena for a moment. "And I want to make sure that this second chance is worth it…for you," she added. "There's something I have to tell you."

Lena frowned momentarily. She wanted Supergirl to tell her right now, whatever it was. If only to assuage that storm swirling around in her blue eyes – the blue eyes that had always reminded her somewhat of Kara. But a turn to the left and her field of vision was filled with Lex's empty cell.

Yeah, they had more important things to deal with. So instead of forcing Supergirl, she just offered a nod.

* * *

(+1)

The talk never really came. Everything pretty much went to  _shit_ , and they definitely did not have time to mull over anything personal at the moment. Which was good, really. Lena couldn't be sure how she would react if they had the talk too soon.

The reprieve was good, appreciated even. It allowed Lena to distract herself from the pain that bloomed in her chest and remained there for the remainder of the time they took to deal with Lex and the very kind and pitiful clone that he had pretty much manufactured. It allowed Lena to be alone at night – alone enough to ponder what she saw and consider her next steps. It allowed Lena to have more time to have a good look at Supergirl's face and then Kara's.

It allowed Lena to beat herself up for being such an absolute idiot for not seeing it in the first place. For being so fucking desperate that she had  _convinced_ herself of a lie. Because yeah, she  _did_ figure it out very early on, but somehow her brain had just shut down instantly and she went on with life, thoroughly content with a lie.

Being in love had always been a bitch.

Her glass was, thankfully, filled with red wine when Kara walked in with Big Belly Burger takeout in tow. Forcing a smile, she joined the blonde at the couch and watched and listened as the blonde went on her diatribe of everything had happened with her day, accompanied with active gesticulations and unreserved facial expressions as she told her story.

Lena committed it all to memory, because she had her plane ticket booked and the moving company would be over in the morning to get her stuff. She was many things at once – angry, disappointed, sad,  _in love_. That last part was the only reason she was even here tonight – one day after Lex had been returned to a more fortified Cell Block D.

Real life came back. Suddenly, she had time again. And last night, when they had all signed all they had to sign and Lena could go home and get a proper night of sleep, she did not sleep. She just stared at her ceiling and pondered her options, finally deciding that it was too much. She couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough.

"Take off your glasses," Lena demanded without any segue, her voice might be cold but she was certain her face was just a warring range of all sorts of emotions.

Kara froze, having just demolished her second burger. "What?"

Lena clenched her jaw, closed her eyes, and propped her head in her hand. "Take off your glasses," she repeated, opening her eyes again to meet Kara's.

The blonde almost looked like she wanted to argue and laugh it off. But then she relented and sighed. And Lena's heart, wow, Lena's heart just went right there, plummeting to the bottom and shattering into millions of irretrievable pieces. For a second, she wondered how she was supposed to put it back together this time, since Kara was the one who put it back together last time.

Kara took off her glasses.

Lena inhaled sharply. Lifted her red wine and downed it in one big gulp. She carelessly dumped the empty glass on the carpeted floor and proceeded to press her face into her palms as she shook on the couch. There were no tears. No outward display of despair. Lena was just that good – she gave herself a few minutes to shake before returning to her composed self and facing Kara again.

Kara, who looked all sorts of uncertain and guilty and curious, played with the useless glasses with her lips in a pout. "H – how?"

"Lex's cell – those computers were connected to the security cameras," Lena provided.

It took Kara moment, but the dawning came in the form of a relenting sigh and a small whimper and blonde eyelashes closing down. That day, Lena had seen the footage and she wanted to yell and scream and ruin everything, but she was too frozen to even react properly. And before she knew it, Kara was outside, sounding so worried that Lena reacted by shutting the whole system down. When Kara strode in, Lena had lost all sense of normalcy and just went along with it.

Until today.

"I wanted to tell you."

"I know. You wanted to talk."

Kara opened her eyes and Lena had to really fortify her walls to not be affected by the torment clouding the woman's eyes. Because no matter the torment Kara was experiencing now, it definitely couldn't compare to the constant shredding of her heart the second she saw the footage and realized the truth that she had known all along.

"I'm sorry," Kara whispered.

Lena nodded in acceptance. "I know." She played with the ring on her right middle finger. "This whole time, there were so many times I wanted to just ask you why."

"It's not because –"

"But last night, I realized I don't care," Lena ploughed through, not giving Kara any more opportunities to play with her like a toy anymore. No more of that. For once, Lena was going to be selfish. She shook her head and shot Kara a bitter smile. "I don't. Because it doesn't matter what your reason is; you still lied to me for  _three years_. More than that, actually."

Kara flinched. "I –"

"No, Kara." Lena stood up and started heading towards her coat rack, where her briefcase sat prepared. She pulled on her coat and pulled her hair out from under the collars. This distance was much needed. Necessary. What she needed to  _survive_ , at this point. "I don't –" Lena sighed and looked at Kara as she picked up the briefcase. "I can't do this anymore," she whispered.

Now that her identity was revealed. Kara didn't have to hide anymore, which was how she was suddenly right in front of Lena in less than a second. Lena gulped and forced herself to look into Kara's eyes. This would be the last time she could do this.

"I love you," Kara confessed.

A few pieces of her heart went back to their places at that confession. Of course, Kara Danvers would  _still_ be the only one to put her back together. But it was too late now. The hurt was too much. The tsunami had come and done its job. The cracks were in place. And no matter what Kara did or said, no matter how much Lena tried, it would still be broken.

 _She_ would still be broken. She was Lena Luthor, after all. Meant to be broken and all that jazz.

Lena reached out and gently tucked a strand of blonde hair behind one ear, cupping the blonde's cheek. She nodded resolutely to herself after pressing the proverbial button to snap a permanent photo to imprint on her brain. She wanted to return those words, because she did.

She loved Kara like no other. She would never love another like she loved Kara, that was for sure. But her desire to be selfish outweighed any other. So she just nodded in acceptance and leaned in to press her lips to Kara's cheek. She lingered there, because she wouldn't have another chance to feel this warmth again. This sunshine personified would be out of her life come tomorrow.

Tomorrow, she'd be on a flight to London. A new home base. The Big Ben would make its noise every hour, reminding her of yet another hour where her heart was shattered and her life was absent of Kara Danvers. Come tomorrow, National City would be yesterday.

She drew back, nodding at Kara again. And she turned to open the door, walked out, and let it shut behind her one last time.

**Author's Note:**

> listen, the actual revelation will actually kill me. but this is my take, and you are welcome to hate me.
> 
> also, have y'all seen endgame? because oh my god i have never been so sad at a movie before i'm like in the depression stage of grief right now what about you
> 
> you can find me on twitter @ [embettah](https://twitter.com/embettah) or you can [LOVE ME](http://overcanary.tumblr.com/post/180468208042/taking-commissions-caffeinate-me)
> 
> no, seriously, if you guys like my work and would like to support me in a more substantial way, PLEASE LOVE ME


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